BENGALURU: South-east Asian currencies rose on Monday, with the Indonesian rupiah and South Korean won leading the charge, as prospects of a potential end to US interest rate hikes led to weakness in the greenback.
The South Korean won advanced as much as 0.9%, and the unit is trading at its highest level since Aug. 1.
The Indonesian rupiah and Taiwanese dollar strengthened as much as 0.6% each, the rupiah marking its highest level since Sept. 22.
The US dollar has lost steam, giving up gains it made earlier this year as the steep decline in US Treasury yields since the start of November continued following economic data that suggested inflation is cooling, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve is near the end of its rate-hiking cycle.
Meanwhile, minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting held on Nov. 1 to be released on Tuesday will offer some colour on policymakers’ thinking as they held rates steady for a second time. The next policy meeting will be held on Dec. 12-13.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.21% to 103.62 by 0454 GMT.
The Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Singapore dollar appreciated over 0.2% each.
Most equities in the region also traded higher, with shares in Seoul adding over 1%, while stocks in Singapore and Shanghai surged over 0.5% each.
Separately, Argentina elected right-wing libertarian Javier Milei as its new president on Sunday, rolling the dice on an outsider with radical views to fix an economy battered by triple-digit inflation, a looming recession and rising poverty.
In Taiwan, a potential joint bid by the island’s two main opposition parties was in disarray as they bickered on how to agree on who will run for president with time running out to make a decision.
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